12. A few days after 1 January, word came from Pompeius Propinquus, the imperial agent in Belgica, that the legions
of Upper Germany had broken their oath of loyalty and were
calling for a change of emperor, though they resigned the
choice of the new ruler to the Senate and People of Rome in
order to mitigate the offence. This event accelerated a
measure which Galba had for some time been debating in his
own mind and with his friends — the adoption of an heir. In
recent months, the matter had undoubtedly been the main
topic of discussion throughout the country, for in the first
place, there was opportunity, as well as an unhealthy
craving, for such talk, and in the second, Galba was old and
failing. Few Romans had any capacity to judge or real desire
for the public good. But many day-dreamers talked glibly of
the chances of this candidate or that in order to curry
favour with a friend or a patron, or else to vent their
spite on Titus Vinius, whose daily-growing influence only
rendered him daily more detested.

The fact was that Galba's courtiers had tasted success, and
the emperor's indulgence merely whetted their appetite for
more. So weak and credulous a ruler made wrongdoing both
safer and more lucrative.

13. The power that properly belonged to the emperor was in fact shared between the
consul Titus Vinius and the pretorian prefect Cornelius
Laco. No less influential was Galba's freedman Icelus, who
had been given the status of knight and as such was commonly
called 'Marcianus'. These three were at loggerheads, and
each pursued an individual policy in minor matters. But on
the question of electing a successor to Galba they were
divided into two factions. Vinius supported Marcus Otho,
while Laco and Icelus agreed in rejecting him, though they
had no one alternative candidate in mind. Galba himself was
not blind to the friendship existing between Otho and Titus
Vinius, while wagging tongues could not resist prophesying
that, as Vinius had an unwedded daughter and Otho was
single, a marriage would conveniently seal the alliance.

I believe that Galba had begun to be anxious, too, about the welfare of his country, for it was little use having seized
power from Nero if this were to pass to Otho. After all, the
latter had spent a thoughtless childhood and riotous youth,
winning Nero's favour because he mimicked his vices. This
was why the emperor, until such times as he could get rid of
his wife Octavia, had planted his mistress Poppaea Sabina on
Otho, who knew all about the affair. Later he suspected him
of falling in love with this same Poppaea, and packed him
off to the province of Lusitania in the guise of its
governor. Otho administered his province with courtesy, and
was the first to side with the revolt. (1) So long as the campaign lasted he showed energy, and held the leading position among those in personal
attendance upon Galba. He had hoped to be adopted from the
start, and now each passing day saw his ambition
intensified. He had the support of a majority among the
troops, and Nero's courtiers naturally fell for one who
resembled him.

14. But once informed of the army revolt in Germany, Galba
was anxious about the extent of the outbreak, although so
far there was no certain information about Vitellius. The
emperor had no confidence in the city garrison either. He
therefore resorted to what he believed to be the one and
only cure for the disease — an imperial election. He summoned
Marius Celsus (one of the consuls-designate) and Ducenius
Geminus (the city prefect) as well as Vinius and Laco, and
after a few prefatory remarks about his advancing years,
sent for Piso Licinianus. It is not clear whether this was
his own choice, or whether, as some have believed, it was
the result of pressure from Laco, who had made friends with
Piso at the house of Rubellius Plautus. However, in
supporting him Laco astutely pretended that he was a
stranger, and Piso's reputation made the policy plausible
enough. As the son of Marcus Crassus and Scribonia, Piso
came of distinguished parentage on both sides. His severe
expression and general appearance belonged to an earlier age
and on a just estimate suggested strictness of principle,
though carping critics found him too straitlaced. If this
aspect of his character awoke some misgivings in the
pessimists, it won the approval of his adoptive father.

15. So it seems that Galba took Piso's hand and spoke to him in terms which may be paraphrased as follows: 'If I were a
private citizen adopting you in the traditional way before
the pontiffs with due legislative forms, it would have been
gratifying to me to have a descendant of Gnaeus Pompey and
Marcus Crassus entering my family, and you in your turn
would have found it an honour to enhance your own
distinctions with those of the Sulpicii and Lutatii. But as
things are, the unanimous will of heaven and earth has
called me to supreme power, and it is rather your character
and patriotism which have impelled me to offer you the
principate. For this power, our forefathers fought on the
battle-field, and I myself won it by the sword. But I now
give it to you in time of peace, following the precedent set
by Emperor Augustus. He it was who promoted to a position
immediately below his own his sister's son Marcellus, then
his son-in-law Agrippa, later his own grandsons, and finally
Tiberius Nero, his step-son. But Augustus looked for a
successor within his family: I have done so in the country
at large. This is not because I have no relatives or army
colleagues. But it was not from selfish motives that I
accepted office myself, and the nature of my present choice
should be plain from the fact that, for your sake, I have
passed over the claims not only of my relatives but of
yours. Your brother is as nobly born as you, and older. He,
too, could worthily fill the part, were you not the better
man.

'You are old enough now to have escaped the waywardness of
youth, and you have nothing to apologize for in your past.
Until today, misfortune was all you had to bear. But success
probes a man's character more keenly. Men put up with bad
times, but prosperity spoils us. Loyalty, independence and
friendship are the finest flowers of human character. These
qualities you will of course continue to display as sturdily
as ever. But others will seek to weaken them by a cringing
attitude. You will have to face up to flattery, honied words
and the poison most fatal to sincerity — individual
self-interest. Even if you and I are today conversing with
perfect frankness, the world will prefer to address us as
emperors, not as ourselves. Persuading a ruler to adopt the
right course is a fatiguing business, but to flatter him
regardless of his character is a mechanical exercise which
presupposes no real affection.

16. 'If it were possible for our gigantic empire to stand erect and keep its balance in the absence of a ruler, I
should be the right sort of person to hand over power to a
republican form of government. But in fact we have long ago
reached a point where drastic measures are necessary. Hence
my declining years can make Rome no greater gift than a good
successor, nor your youth any greater gift than a good
emperor. Under Tiberius, Gaius and Claudius, the principate
was the heirloom of a single family, so that the
introduction of the principle of choice will mean liberty.
The dynasty of the Julii and Claudii has come to an end, and
the best man will be discovered by the process of adoption.
To be born and bred of emperors is a matter of chance and is
valued accordingly. But adoption implies the unfettered
exercise of judgement. Moreover, if one wants guidance in
this choice, public opinion points the way. Remember Nero,
who prided himself on being the heir of a long line of
Caesars. It was not Vindex with his undefended province, nor
I with my one legion, (2) who
dislodged this incubus from the shoulders of Rome. His own
monstrous excesses and life of pleasure did so, though there
was no precedent at that time for the condemnation of an
emperor. We ourselves, who owe our promotion to armed force
and critical scrutiny, are bound to be the target of envious
glances, whatever our merits. However, you must not lose
confidence if two legions (3) have not yet recovered their steadiness after the shock which the Roman world has suffered. My
accession too was far from tranquil. Besides, once men hear
of your adoption they will cease to view me as an old man —
the only criticism they can level at me now. Nero will
always be missed by the riffraff. It is your task and mine
to see to it that he is not missed by good men as well.

'This is not the moment for further words of advice, and
indeed every precaution has been taken if I did right in
choosing you. The most practical and also most rapid
criterion of good and bad policy is to reflect what actions
you would yourself approve or disapprove of if another were
emperor. Rome is not like primitive countries with their
kings. Here we have no ruling caste dominating a nation of
slaves. You are called to be the leader of men who can
tolerate neither total slavery nor total liberty.'

Such was the tenor of Galba's remarks. They sounded as if he
were still in the process of creating an emperor. But the
tone the rest took towards Piso showed that they regarded
the process as complete.

17. We are told that the new Caesar betrayed no indication
of emotion or exultation to his immediate audience or
afterwards to the general public who riveted their gaze upon
him. He addressed his father and sovereign in suitably
respectful language, and referred to himself modestly. His
unaltered looks and manner seemed to imply that he had the
ability rather than the desire to be emperor.

It was then debated whether the right place for an official
proclamation of the adoption would be the rostra, the senate
or the pretorian barracks. It seemed best to proceed to the
barracks. This, it was felt, would be a tribute to the army,
whose favour ought not to be sought by bounties and
cajolery, but was not to be despised if won by honourable
means. Meanwhile, the palace had been surrounded by an
expectant public impatient to hear the great secret, and
attempts to suppress rumours which had leaked out merely
intensified them.

18. The tenth of January was an unpleasantly rainy day,
abnormally disturbed by thunder, lightning and a threatening
sky. From time immemorial this had been interpreted as an
omen calling for the cancellation of political assemblies,
but it did not frighten Galba from making his way to the
barracks. He despised such things as being the blind forces
of nature; or perhaps the future is predestined and
inevitable whatever the premonitory signs. His proclamation,
addressed to a massive parade of the troops, was marked by
the brevity befitting a supreme commander. He said that in
adopting Piso he was acting in accordance with the precedent
of Emperor Augustus and the military practice whereby one
man used to pick another (4). Furthermore,
in order to stop exaggerated versions of the revolt by
speaking frankly, he went out of his way to insist that the
aberrations of the Fourth and Twenty-Second Legions had not
exceeded mere words and slogans, and they would soon return
to their duty. Nor did he round off the speech by pandering
to the troops or bribing them. Despite this, the tribunes,
centurions and front-ranks raised a gratifying cheer by way
of response. But throughout the rest reigned gloom and
silence, as if they felt that active service had lost them
the bounty customarily exacted even in peace-time. There is
general agreement that it would have been quite possible to
win them over by a mere token act of generosity on the part
of the niggardly old emperor. His old-fashioned rigidity and
excessive strictness spelt ruin, for we cannot rise to these
standards nowadays.

19. Then came a meeting of the senate. Its members heard
from Galba some remarks as simple and brief as those he had
addressed to the troops. Piso made a courteous and formal
speech, which went down well. Many senators felt genuine
good will, those who had opposed him spoke even more
effusively, and the uncommitted majority were quick to
grovel. They were too busy calculating their private
prospects to worry about the public interest. In the
following four days, the time which intervened between his
adoption and murder, Piso made no public utterance or move.

As reports of the German revolt increased day by day in a
country prepared to hear and believe all the latest news if
it is bad, the senate had determined to send a mission to
the army of Germany. The question of Piso's joining the
embassy was ventilated in secret. This would look more
impressive: the others would carry the authority of the
senate, Piso the prestige of a Caesar. They decided to
include Laco, the pretorian prefect; but he promptly vetoed
this plan. Besides, the selection of the other
commissioners, which had been entrusted by the senate to
Galba, was marked by scandalous indecision. Men were
nominated, and then allowed to withdraw or suggest
substitutes, according as each man's fears or hopes induced
him to pull strings in an endeavour to secure exemption from
the mission or inclusion in it.

20. The next matter to be dealt with was finance. A
comprehensive survey showed that the fairest thing would be
to demand repayment from those who were responsible for the
crisis. Nero had squandered 2,200 million sesterces in
largesse. Galba ordered the recipients to be sent individual
demand-notices, on the understanding that each was to retain
one tenth of what he had received. But the people concerned
had barely this amount left, for they had spent other men's
money as lavishly as their own. The really greedy and
unprincipled beneficiaries no longer disposed of any landed
property or capital investments: only the minor trappings of
depravity remained. The collection of the money was to be
supervised by an equestrian committee of thirty. Their
functions were without precedent, and rendered onerous by
interest and numbers. The auctioneer and the dealer in
confiscated property were everywhere, and Rome was
distracted by lawsuits. Yet there was also intense
jubilation at the thought that the recipients of Nero's
bounty would henceforth be as poor as those he had robbed.

In the course of these days some tribunes were cashiered:
Antonius Taurus and Antonius Naso of the Pretorian Guard,
Aemilius Pacensis of the Urban Cohorts, and Julius Fronto of
the Watch. No steps were taken against the rest. This only
gave rise to the feeling that, if individual offenders were
being timidly and cunningly removed, all were suspect.

21. Otho had nothing to hope for from settled conditions,
and his whole policy was based on exploiting chaos. By this
time he was responding to a number of irritants: dissipation
such as would have imposed a strain upon an emperor's
pocket, poverty which even a private individual could
scarcely stand, malice towards Galba and jealousy of Piso.
To stimulate his ambition, he conjured up imaginary dangers,
too. He told himself that Nero had found him too much of a
burden, and he could not expect a second Lusitania and
appointment to another exile. Suspicion and hatred must
always be the reaction of rulers towards the man talked of
as the next in the succession. It was this, he reflected,
that had prejudiced his chances with an elderly emperor, and
it would do so even more with an ill-natured youth soured by
prolonged exile. His assassination, Otho reflected, was
always a possibility. So he must be up and doing, while
Galba's popularity was fading and Piso's had not yet
established itself. There was scope for great enterprises
when power changed hands, and hesitation was misplaced where
inaction could do more harm than recklessness. Death came
equally to all men as a condition of their existence: it was
differentiated only by oblivion or fame in after times. If guilty and
innocent must await the same end, it showed more spirit in a
man to die for a purpose.

22. Otho's character was not as flabby as his physical condition, and it was exploited by
his confidential freedmen and slaves, who were given a freer
hand than one expects in a private household. These
creatures dangled alluring prospects before his greedy gaze:
a court and life of pleasure like Nero's, liaisons,
marriages and all the gratifications of tyranny. These could
be his if he had the courage. If he did nothing, the
taunters added, these prizes would go to someone else.
Further pressure came from the astrologers, who asserted
that their observation of the stars heralded change and a
year of glory for Otho. Such men mislead the powerful and
deceive the ambitious, practising a profession which in our
country will always be outlawed and always maintained. The
backstairs intrigues of Poppaea had employed a number of
astrologers whose nefarious activities secured her marriage
to the emperor. One of these, Ptolemaeus, had gone with Otho
to Spain. He had promised that his patron would survive
Nero, and the fulfilment of the prophecy established his
reputation. Now, proceeding by guesswork and the
calculations of gossips who worked out Galba's age and
compared it with Otho's, he had managed to persuade the
latter that he would be called to be emperor. But in
accepting these predictions, Otho imagined they were based
on knowledge and the voice of destiny, man's character being
such that he will always prefer to believe in mysteries.
Ptolemaeus pressed his advantage and proceeded to urge Otho
to take the fatally easy step from evil ambition to evil
deeds.

23. But whether the plot was the result of a sudden impulse
may be questioned. Otho had been angling for the support of
the troops for some time, in the hope of succeeding to the
principate or in preparation for a coup. On the move from
Spain, whether during the march or at halting places, he
made it a practice to address the oldest soldiers by name (5), and talked of
'their service together' — an allusion to attendance upon
Nero. He greeted some as old friends. He asked after the
occasional absentee. He gave assistance in the form of money
or favours, often dropping complaints and double-edged
remarks about Galba and employing all the other incitements
of the mob agitator. The tiring marches, short rations (6) and strict discipline were not well
received by men who were used to travelling to the lake
district of Campania and the cities of Greece on board ship,
but who now found themselves plodding wearily over the
Pyrenees and Alps and along interminable roads under the
weight of their arms and equipment.

24. The smouldering discontent of the troops was fanned to a
blaze by one of Tigillinus' cronies, Mevius Pudens. Getting
hold of the men who were most easily led, or who were short
of money and therefore ready for any desperate plunge, he
worked upon them little by little and finally went so far as
to hand out a tip of l00 sesterces to each and every member
of the cohort on duty whenever Galba dined with Otho,
ostensibly for their meal. This semi-official bounty was
backed by more confidential rewards to individuals. His
methods of corruption were enterprising. A member of the
emperor's personal bodyguard called Cocceius Proculus
happened to be in dispute with a neighbour over part of the
latter's land. Otho bought up the whole of this neighbour's
farm out of his own pocket, and presented it to Proculus as
a free gift. Such things were only rendered possible by the
inefficiency of the pretorian prefect, who was blind to
everything, whether it was common knowledge or a secret.

25. Anyway, Otho now put his freedman Onomastus in charge of
the plot. The latter introduced two members of the
bodyguard, a corporal called Barbius Proculus and a
warrant-officer, one Veturius. In the course of a discursive
interview Otho found out that they were competent and
unscrupulous, and doled out bribes and promises on a lavish
scale. Money was given them to enable them to bid for wider
support. Thus two non-commissioned officers undertook to
dispose of the empire which belonged to Rome. In this they
were completely successful. Only a few confederates were let
into the secret. As for the rest, Proculus and Veturius
employed a variety of ingenious methods to prod the
hesitant, dropping hints to senior N.C.O.s that they were
under acloud because Nymphidius had promoted them, and
inducing in the remainder, that is the majority, a mood of
anger and despair at the repeated postponement of the
bounty. If a few regretted Nero and missed the slack
discipline of the past, all without exception were
panic-stricken at the prospect of being posted to less
favoured units.

26. The rot spread to the legionaries and auxiliaries,
already demoralized by the spread of news about the
crumbling loyalty of the army of Germany. The
mischief-makers were ready for mutiny, and even the better
sort were prepared to connive at it. Indeed, on the
following day ( 11 January) they were on the point of
carrying Otho off to their barracks as he was returning home
from a dinner, but were scared off by the uncertainties of
night-time, the scattered location of the troops throughout
Rome, and the difficulty of achieving co-ordination between
men who were the worse for drink. It was not their country
they were worried about, for they were preparing in sober
earnest to desecrate it with the blood of their emperor. But
there was a real fear that in the darkness any chance person
who met the Pannonian or German units might be mistaken for
Otho, who was not personally known to most people. There was
plenty of evidence of this incipient outbreak, but those in
the know hushed it up. A few hints which reached Galba's
ears were sidestepped by the prefect Laco, who was quite out
of touch with what his men thought, regularly opposed any
plan, whatever its excellence, which he had not himself
proposed, and showed a stubborn disregard for expert
opinion.

27. On 15 January, Galba was offering sacrifice in front of
the Temple of Apollo (7). The soothsayer Umbricius pronounced the entrails of the victim to be ill-omened, and predicted the imminence of a plot and the presence of a traitor within the palace. As Otho was standing next to
Galba, he overheard this and gleefully interpreted it in the
contrary sense as favourable to his own designs. A few
minutes later, his freedman Onomastus brought him a message:
the architect and builders were waiting for him. This was
the pre-arranged code indicating that the troops were
already assembling and the plot ripe. Some asked Otho why he
was leaving. In reply, he pretended that he was buying some
dilapidated property which had to be surveyed before the
deal was complete. Arm-in-arm with his freedman, he made his
way through the Palace of Tiberias into the Velabrum, and
from there to the Golden Milestone near the Temple of Satum.
Here twenty-three members of the bodyguard gave him the
imperial salutation. Otho was appalled that they were so few
in number, but they quickly placed him in a chair, drew
their swords and hurried him off. Roughly the same number of
soldiers joined the party on the way — some privy to the
plot, many bewildered, a proportion shouting and flourishing
their swords, others again maintaining silence, with the
intention of suiting their reaction to the event.

28. The duty-officer at the barracks was the tribune Julius
Martialis. It is hard to say whether he was overwhelmed by
the mere idea of such an immense and wicked enterprise, or
whether he feared that the rot went deeper among the men and
that resistance on his part might spell death. In any case,
he gave many people the impression that he was in the plot.
The other tribunes, and the centurions, also preferred the
advantage of the moment to the incalculable risks of honour.
Their mood may be summed up thus: a shocking crime was
committed on the unscrupulous initiative of few individuals,
with the blessing of more, and amid the passive acquiescence
of all.

29. Meanwhile, Galba was unaware of what was afoot.
Preoccupied with the sacrifice, he continued to offer his
importunities to the gods of an empire no longer his.
Suddenly word came that some senator — it was not known
who — was being hastily carried to the pretorian barracks.
After a while, the man was identified as Otho. News came
from every part of Rome at once, brought by whoever had met
the procession. Some of these informants were panicky, and
gave an exaggerated account. A few used understatement,
unable even at the eleventh hour to forget the habit of
flattery. A consultation was held. It was decided to test
the attitude of the cohort that was on duty in the palace
area, while not exposing Galba in person. The prestige of
the emperor was to be reserved intact to deal with some more
drastic situation. So it was Piso who addressed the parade
from the steps of the palace in a speech whose substance I
reproduce:

'This is the fifth day, men, since I was created a Caesar by
adoption. I was ignorant of what was to come. Perhaps this
name was one to covet; perhaps it was to be dreaded. What in
fact this implies for my family and for the state is a
matter which rests with you. Not that I have any fears of a
grimmer upshot on my own account. I have experienced
adversity already, and this very moment teaches me that
success itself is no less dangerous. But I am indeed sorry
for my father, the senate and the empire itself, if we must
either suffer death today or, by a dispensation equally
grievous to good men, inflict it. In the last crisis, we
found comfort in the circumstance that there was no
bloodshed in the capital and that the transference of power
was undisputed. In this case, the fact of adoption appeared
sufficient guarantee against fighting, even after Galba's
reign comes to an end.

30. 'I shall make no claims for myself in point of ancestry or good character. After all, there is no need for a
catalogue of virtues when the comparison is with Otho. His
sole boast is a vicious life, which involved the downfall of
an emperor even when Otho passed himself off as the
emperor's friend. Are we to believe that he earned the
principate by his mincing airs? Or by his characteristically
effeminate love of finery? The public are mistaken: they are
imposed upon by a prodigal wearing the mask of generosity.
Otho will be skilled in squandering, but not in giving. At
this moment seduction, revelry and sex are the things that
engage his imagination. These he takes to be the spoils of
the imperial office, whose lusts and pleasures are to be
his, their shame and degradation everyone's. No one has ever
made good use of power evilly gained.

'Galba was called to be a Caesar by the unanimous voice of
the whole world, and I by Galba with your approval. If
"constitution", "senate" and "people" are merely empty phrases, it is up to you, men, to see that the emperor is
not created by the dregs of the army. We have sometimes
heard stories of legionaries rising in mutiny against their
commanders, but your reliability and reputation have never
been in question until today. Even Nero himself deserted
you; you did not desert him. We are faced with less than
thirty renegades and deserters — men in whom no one would
tolerate the claim to appoint a centurion or a tribune. Are
they to have an empire in their gift? Are you going to
concede this precedent, and make yourselves accessories to
the act by doing nothing about it? These liberties will
spread to the provinces, and the upshot will be death for us
and warfare for you. Murdering your emperor brings no
greater reward than keeping your hands clean, and from us
you will get as generous a bonus for loyalty as you would
from others for treason.

31. The men of the bodyguard had slipped away, but the rest
of the cohort took no exception to Piso's speech. They
prepared for action with heightened excitement, increased
confusion and yet still with a degree of loyalty; some were
in genuine ignorance of what was afoot, others (as was
afterwards believed) were traitors putting on an act. Marius
Celsus, too, was sent off to negotiate with the Balkan
contingents quartered in the Porticus Vipsania, (8) and instructions were given to two senior warrant-officers,
Amullius Serenus and Domitius Sabinus, to bring up the
troops of the army of Germany from Freedom Hall. (9) Little confidence was placed in the naval legion, for the men still resented the butchery of their comrades by Galba on the very
first occasion of his entering Rome. In addition to these
measures, the tribune Cetrius Severus, Subrius Dexter and
Pomponius Longinus went off to the pretorian barracks to see
if the still incipient outbreak could be made to yield to
saner counsels before it was too late. Of the tribunes,
Subrius and Cetrius were given a threatening reception by
the troops, while Longinus was actually manhandled, arrested
and disarmed. This was because his loyalty to his emperor
depended less on rank than friendship with Galba, and so
rendered him particularly suspect in the eyes of the rebels.
The naval legion promptly went over to the pretorians, and
the drafts from the army of the Balkans drove Celsus away at
the point of their pikes. The detachments from Germany
wavered for some time, being still physically unfit, as well
as amiably disposed. They had formed the advance-party sent
on to Alexandria by Nero, and as their health had been
impaired by the long return voyage, Galba had made a point
of nursing them back into condition.

32. By this time, the palace area was jammed by the mob,
consisting of the lower classes in full strength, with some
slaves. Discordant shouts were raised demanding Otho's head
and the execution of the conspirators, as if the crowd were
clamouring for some sort of entertainment in the circus or
theatre. There was no question of their expressing a
considered or sincere opinion, for on the very same day they
were to make diametrically opposed demands with equal
alacrity. This was merely the accepted tradition whereby any
emperor, no matter who he was, was acclaimed with
extravagant applause and empty demonstration.

Meanwhile Galba was hesitating between two proposals. Titus
Vinius urged staying in the palace, using the household
slaves as a screen, barricading the doors, and avoiding
contact while tempers ran high. Galba, he said, should give
the offenders an opportunity to repent, and loyal subjects a
breathing space to adopt concerted action. What made crime
effective was the element of surprise. Honest counsels
profited from delay. Finally, the emperor would still be in
a position to venture out at will later, if this seemed
policy, but if he were to do so and regret it, any return to
the palace would lie at the mercy of others.

33. The remainder of the council were for speedy action to
anticipate the growth of the conspiracy, which was so far a
feeble business confined to a few plotters. Otho, too, was
likely to be in a panic, they pointed out. He had left
furtively and been carried off to men who were strangers to
him. But the idle advocates of procrastination and
time-wasting were at this very moment giving him a chance to
learn the part of emperor. They must not wait for him to
establish his hold on the barracks, invade the Forum and
enter the Capitol under Galba's nose, while the doughty
emperor and his heroic courtiers — doughty and heroic as far
as the door, at any rate — bolted and barred the palace with
the evident intention of submitting to a siege. Much help
would they get from the slaves, once the united will of the
great crowd and its all-important initial outburst of
indignation were allowed to flag! Such a policy was as
dangerous as it was degrading. Even if they were fated to
die, it was best to meet danger half-way. This would win
Otho the greater infamy, and themselves honour.

Vinius' opposition to this plan provoked a furious onslaught
from the blustering Laco. The latter was backed by Icelus,
who obstinately persisted in a private vendetta to the ruin
of his country.

34. Galba for his part hesitated no longer, and gave his casting vote in favour of their plan: it looked
better. However, Piso was told to go on ahead to the
barracks as being a young man of great name recently
promoted, and an opponent of Titus Vinius. (Whether he was
such in fact, or whether malignant critics merely wanted him
to be, is not clear; but a quarrel seems the more likely
supposition .)

Piso had scarcely left the palace when word came that Otho
had seen killed in the barracks. At first the rumour was
vague and uncertain. Then, as so often is the case with
brazen falsehoods, certain individuals asserted that they
had been present when the deed was done and had witnessed
it. The story was lapped up by a jubilant and uncritical
public. Many people held that the rumour had been invented
and swollen by means of Othonian agents who lad already
insinuated themselves among the crowd and spread the bogus
good news in order to lure Galba out of his palace.

35. This was the signal for a burst of applause and
exaggerated enthusiasm, which was not confined to the
populace and the ignorant lower classes. Many of the knights
and senators threw fear and caution to the winds. Forcing
the doors of the palace, they poured into the apartments,
and presented themselves before Galba with the complaint
that they had been forestalled in their revenge. The
greatest cowards among them — those who, as events proved,
were to lose their nerve in the moment of danger expressed
themselves in violent language, and played the hero with
their tongue. Ignorance and assertion went hand in hand
everywhere. Finally, the absence of reliable information and
the united chorus of delusion proved Galba's undoing. He
buckled on his breastplate, and being too old and too infirm
to resist the pressure of the crowd as it urged in, was
placed in a chair and raised shoulder-high. While still in
the palace area, he was confronted by one of his bodyguard
called Julius Atticus, who flourished a blood-stained sword
and cried out that he had killed Otho. Galba's immediate
retort was: Who gave you the order, my man?' This remark
shows his striking determination to check indiscipline.
Indeed, threats left him unafraid, and in the face of
flatterers he retained his integrity.

36. By this time all hesitation had vanished in the
pretorian barracks. So great was the enthusiasm that the men
were not content with escorting Otho and crowding round him.
They put him, amid massed flags and standards, on a dais
which had recently supported a gold statue of Galba. The
tribunes and centurions were allowed no access to Otho, and
in any case the other ranks warned him to be on his guard
against the officers. The whole place re-echoed with
shouting, tumult and mutual encouragement. It is not unusual
for the civilian populace and the lower classes to voice
their idle flattery by means of confused cries. But this was
quite different. Whenever the troops noticed a fresh
adherent coming over to them, they shook him by the hand,
put their arms around his neck, placed him near Otho and
administered the oath of allegiance, praising the emperor to
his troops in one breath and the troops to their emperor in
the next. Otho, too, played his part well. He would hold out
his hands, bow to the mob and throw them kisses, in
everything aping the slave in order to become the master.
When the naval legion had taken the oath down to the last
man, he began to feel sure of himself. Believing that
individual inducement should be backed up by a general
appeal, he took up a position on the wall surrounding the
barracks, and addressed the pretorians as follows:

37. 'I find it hard to say in what capacity I stand before you, men. I can scarcely call myself a subject after you
have nominated me as emperor. Nor can I describe myself as
emperor while another rules. Your own designation will be
just as ambiguous so long as it is not clear whether the man
you are harbouring in your barracks is the ruler of Rome or
a traitor. Do you hear them? They are calling in the same
breath for my punishment and your execution. This makes it
quite obvious that we stand or fall together.

Knowing Galba's clemency, one can guess that he has already
undertaken to carry out the sentence. After all, he
slaughtered thousands of completely inoffensive troops when
no one asked him to. I shudder when I think of his grisly
occupation of Rome the only victory Galba ever won — in
which he gave orders that men who had surrendered, thrown
themselves on his mercy and been accepted as his loyal
followers, should suffer decimation before the gaze of the
capital. After this auspicious entry what prestige did he
confer upon the office of emperor other than that of having
executed Obultronius Sabinus and Cornelius Marcellus in
Spain, Betuus Cilo in Gaul, Fonteius Capito in Germany,
Clodius Macer in Africa, Cingonius on the march, Turpilianus
at Rome, Nymphidius in the barracks? What province is there
throughout the world, what army barracks, which is not
stained and polluted with blood, or, to use Galba's phrase,
"reformed and straightened up"? Treatment which others call
criminal he calls remedial. By a misuse of language, he
describes cruelty as severity, greed as economy and the
execution and insults you have suffered as a lesson in
discipline.

'Barely seven months have passed since the death of Nero,
and in this time Icelus has stolen more money than was ever
squandered by creatures like Polyclitus, Vatinius and
Aegialus. (10)

The exactions of Titus Vinius would have displayed less
greed and lawlessness if he had been emperor himself. As it
is, he has both kept us in subjection as if we were his
chattels, and held us cheap as though we belonged to
another. His mansion alone is enough to provide that bounty
which is still denied, yet forms the text of daily sermons.

38. 'What is more, to make sure that we should not pin our hopes upon his successor, Galba has restored from exile the
one man who in his opinion most closely resembled himself
for surliness and avarice. You have observed, men, the
remarkable storm by which even the gods signified their
disgust at this ill-omened adoption. The same mood animates
the senate. The same mood animates the Roman people. All
they are waiting for is your courageous intervention, for
you alone can make good policies effective, and without you
the best endeavours are paralysed.

'I am not calling upon you to fight a war or risk your
lives. The armed forces without exception are on our side.
As for the one solitary cohort in civilian dress manning the
palace, its function is not so much to protect Galba as to
keep him in custody. When this unit catches sight of you,
when it receives my signal, the only struggle that will take
place will be a competition to see who can earn my deepest
gratitude. In an enterprise that can only win praise if it
is carried to a successful conclusion, there is no room for
hesitation.'

Otho then ordered the arsenal to be opened. Weapons were
hastily grabbed. Tradition and discipline went by the board.
The troops disregarded the distinctions of equipment between
pretorians and legionaries, and seized helmets and shields
meant for auxiliaries. All was confusion. No encouragement
came from tribunes or centurions. Each man followed his own
lead and prompting, and the worst elements found their chief
stimulus in the sorrow of the good.

39. By this time Piso was seriously alarmed by the mounting tumult and cries of mutiny, audible even in Rome itself. He joined Galba, who had in the interval left the palace and was approaching the
Forum. Celsus, too, returned with bad news. Some of Galba's
suite suggested returning to the Palatine. Others wanted to
make for the Capitol. A number of them were for securing the
rostra. The majority, however, confined themselves to
denouncing the views of their companions, and as so often
happens when things go wrong, regretted they had not done
what it was now too late to do. It is said that Laco,
without telling Galba, toyed with the idea of killing Titus
Vinius. If so, it is hard to say whether he thought his
execution would mollify the troops, or believed him Otho's
confederate, or in the last resort merely hated him. The
time and the place gave him pause. Once killing starts, it
is difficult to draw the line. Anyway, Laco's plan was upset
by the alarming news and the flight of his associates.
Indeed, all those keen supporters who had ostentatiously
paraded their loyalty and courage at the start now lost
heart.

40. By this time, Galba was being carried hither and thither
by the irregular impact of the surging multitude. Everywhere
the public buildings and temples were crowded with a sea of
faces, as of spectators assembled to watch a pageant. Yet
not a cry came from the mass of people or the lower classes.
Their faces betrayed astonishment, their ears were strained
to catch every sound. There was neither disorder nor quiet,
but only the hush typical of great fear or great anger.

Otho, however, was informed that the mob were being armed.
He ordered his men to move in at full speed and seize the
danger-points. Thus it was that Roman troops made ready to
murder an old, defenceless man who was their emperor, just
as if they were set on deposing a Vologaeses or Pacorus from
the ancestral throne of the Arsacids. (11) Forcing their way through the crowd, trampling the senate under foot, with weapons at the ready
and horses spurred to a gallop, they burst upon the Forum.
Such men were not deterred by the sight of the Capitol, the
sanctity of the temples that looked down upon them, nor the
thought of emperors past and emperors to come. They were
bent upon the commission of a crime that is inevitably
avenged by the victim's successor.

41. On catching sight of the approaching party of armed men,
an ensign belonging to the cohort which formed Galba's
escort — Atilius Vergilio, according to the tradition —
ripped from his standard the effigy of Galba and dashed it
to the ground, a clear indication that all the troops
supported Otho. It was also a signal for a mass exodus of
the civilian populace from the Forum. Swords were drawn to
deal with recalcitrants. Near the Basin of Curtius, the
panic of his bearers caused Galba to be flung sprawling from
his chair. His last words are variously recorded by the
conflicting voices of hatred and admiration. Some say that
he grovelled, and asked what he had done to deserve his
fate, begging a few days' grace to pay the bounty. The
majority of the historians believe that he voluntarily bared
his throat to the assassins, telling them to strike and be
done with it, if this was what seemed best for the country.
Little did the murderers care what he said.

The identity of the killer is in doubt. Some authorities
speak of a veteran called Terentius. Others mention one
Laecanius. The more usual version holds that a soldier of
the Fifteenth Legion named Camurius thrust his sword deep
into Galba's throat. The rest of them, with revolting
butchery, hacked at his legs and arms, as these (un-like his
body) were not protected by armour. These sadistic monsters
even inflicted a number of wounds on the already truncated
torso.

42. Then they turned upon Titus Vinius. Here, too, accounts
differ. Was he rendered speechless by a paroxysm of fear? Or
did he call out that Otho had given no instructions that he
was to be murdered? Whether this remark was in fact an
invention due to fear or a confession that he was in the
plot, his life and reputation incline me to think that he
had prior knowledge of a crime he certainly caused. In front
of the Temple of Julius Caesar he was struck down by a blow
on the back of the knee, followed by a thrust from a
legionary, Julius Carus, which pierced him from side to
side.

43. This day's work has provided modern times with the
spectacle of a real act of heroism. The hero was Sempronius
Densus, a centurion who belonged to one of the pretorian
cohorts and had been appointed by Galba to watch over Piso's
safety. With dagger drawn, he advanced to meet his fully
armed enemies and denounced their mutiny. His words and
actions diverted the attention of the assassins upon
himself. This gave Piso a chance to escape, wounded though
he was. He got away to the Temple of Vesta, where the state
slave who was its guardian, taking pity on him, gave him
shelter and concealment in his humble room. Thus, for a
while, Piso managed to postpone the fatal moment, not thanks
to the sanctity of the building or its daily ritual, but by
lying low. But then came two of Otho's emissaries hot-foot
upon a specific errand of murder. One of these was Sulpicius
Florus of the auxiliary cohorts serving in Britain. (Only
recently, he had been given Roman citizenship by Galba.) The
other was the imperial body-guard Statius Murcus. These two
dragged out Piso and murdered him at the door of the temple.

44. It is said that Otho was especially gratified to hear of
Piso's death, and studied the victim's severed head with
peculiar malevolence, as if his eyes could never drink their
fill. Perhaps this was because the last weight had now been
lifted from his mind and he felt free to exult. Or perhaps
the reason lay in the contrast with the fate of Galba and
Titus Vinius. There the thought of his treason towards the
former and his friendship for the latter had cast a shadow
over Otho's spirit, for all its ruthlessness. But the doom
of an enemy and rival like Piso may have seemed a right and
proper reason for satisfaction.

The heads of the victims were impaled and carried in
procession, backed by the cohort standards and a legionary
eagle. The mutineers vied with each other in displaying the
blood dripping from their hands, whether they had actually
done the killing or had merely witnessed it, and whether
their boastful claim to what they called a fine and
memorable deed was true or wise. More than 120 individuals
presented petitions demanding a reward for some noteworthy
service on this day. These documents later fell into the
hands of Vitellius, who gave instructions that all the
petitioners were to be rounded up and put to death. This was
not meant as a tribute on his part to Galba: it was the
traditional method by which rulers secure self-defence for
the present and warn of retribution in the future.

45. A complete transformation seemed to have taken place in
both senators and people. They were now a mob stampeding in
the direction of the barracks, each man trying to outstrip
his neighbour in the race and catch up with those who led
the field. They cursed Galba, complimented the soldiers on
their choice, and covered Otho's hand with kisses. These
demonstrations were multiplied in proportion to their
insincerity. Otho for his part welcomed even single
individuals who came up to him, and restrained the greed and
menaces of his men by word and look. The consul-designate
Marius Celsus had shown Galba affection and loyalty to the
bitter end. For this the soldiers now demanded his head, for
they resented his energy and high principle as if they were
faults of character. It was only too obvious that they were
looking for an excuse to set about bloodshed and plunder and
the annihilation of every decent Roman. But Otho was not yet
in a position to prevent outrage-though he could already
command it. So he pretended to be angry, and by ordering
Celsus to be put in irons and undertaking that he would
receive a heavier punishment later on, rescued him from
immediate death.

46. After that, the troops got their way in everything. They chose their own pretorian prefects. One was Plotius Firmus. After serving in the ranks at one time, this man had been given command of the Watch and had joined the faction of Otho while Galba's position was still sound. His colleague was Licinius Proculus, whose close association with Otho suggested that he had encouraged his designs. As city prefect, the troops chose Flavius Sabinus. In this they followed Nero's lead, for Sabinus had held the same post under that emperor. In making this choice many of them had their eye on his brother, Vespasian.

There was a demand for the remission of the payments
traditionally made to centurions to secure exemption from
duty. This was a kind of annual tax payable by the other
ranks. As much as a quarter of a company's strength would be
scattered high and low on leave or loitering in the actual
barracks, so long as they squared the company commander. The
extent of these exactions and the methods employed to meet
them were nobody's business. Highway robbery, theft or
taking on jobs as servants were the means by which they paid
for their time off. Besides this, the richer a soldier was,
the more he was subjected to fatigues and ill-treatment
until he agreed to purchase exemption. Finally, when his
money had given out and he had got into an idle and
unhealthy state, he would return to his unit, reduced from
affluence to poverty and from vigour to sloth. This process
was repeated interminably; and the same destitution and
indiscipline ruined man after man, driving them herd-like
down the slope that leads to mutiny, dissension and, in the
last resort, civil war. However, Otho had no wish to
alienate his centurions by bribing their men. So he promised
that the annual leave should be paid for by the imperial
exchequer. (12) There is no doubt that this was a beneficial reform, and in the course of time the practice
hardened into a recognized part of the military system under
the good emperors who succeeded.

The prefect Laco was given the impression that he was being
exiled to an island. In fact, he was struck down by a
veteran whom Otho had already sent ahead to murder him.
Marcianus Icelus was a freedman, and, as such, he was
publicly executed.

47. The long day of villainy drew to its end. There remained
the last horror — a mood of jubilation. The senate was
summoned by the urban praetor, the other magistrates
surpassed each other in feats of flattery, and the senators
hurried hot-foot to the meeting. A decree was passed giving
Otho the tribunician power, the title 'Augustus' and all the
imperial prerogatives. Everybody made a desperate effort to
obliterate the taunts and insults which had been freely
bandied about; no one was actually made to feel that they
rankled in Otho's mind, and whether in fact he had renounced
revenge or merely postponed it was a question which remained
unanswered owing to the shortness of his reign.

The forum was still bloodstained and littered with bodies
when Otho was carried through it to the Capitol, and from
there to the palace. He allowed the remains to be handed
over for burial and to be cremated. Piso was laid to rest by
his wife Verania and his brother Scribonianus, Titus Vinius
by his daughter Crispina. They had to search for the heads
and pay a ransom for them, as the assassins had kept them in
order to do a deal.

48. At the time of his death, Piso was nearing his
thirty-first birthday. He was a man whose reputation was
better than his luck. Two of his brothers had been executed:
Magnus by Claudius and Crassus by Nero. He himself was for
long an exile, and for five days a Caesar. His hurried
adoption gave him one advantage, and one only, over the
elder brother to whom he was preferred: he was the first to
be murdered.

As for Titus Vinius, during a lifetime lasting forty-seven
years he played many parts, both good and evil. His father
came of a family which had produced praetors, and his
grandfather on his mother's (13) side was a victim of the proscriptions. (14) His first tour of military
service won him notoriety. The wife of his commanding
officer Calvisius Sabinus had an unfortunate passion for
inspecting the camp-site. One night, she entered it
disguised as a soldier, and with no less effrontery forced
herself upon the pickets and other military activities.
Finally, she had the shamelessness to commit adultery, in
the headquarters building of all places. The man involved
was proved to be Titus Vinius. So he was put under close
arrest by order of Gaius Caesar (15), but when times changed soon afterwards, he was given
his freedom, rising smoothly in the public service as
praetor, and then as a legionary commander who proved his
worth. His reputation was later sullied by a scandal
unworthy of a gentle-man. He was alleged to have stolen a
gold cup at a banquet given by Claudius. Indeed, on the day
after, the emperor gave orders that Vinius alone of all his
guests was to be served on earthenware. Still, he proved a
strict and honest proconsul of Narbonese Gaul, and after
that his friendship with Galba carried him irresistibly into
the abyss. Unscrupulous, cunning and quick-witted, when and
as he made up his mind he could be either vicious or
hard-working, with equal effectiveness.

While Titus Vinius enormous wealth caused his will to be set
side, Piso's last wishes were respected because he was poor.

49. The body of Galba lay disregarded for many hours, and under
cover of night marauders offered it repeated outrage.
Finally his steward Argius, an old retainer of his, buried
it in a humble grave in the grounds of Galba's private
villa. The head fell into the hands of army sutlers and
servants, who were responsible for impaling and mutilating
it. It was only on the following day that it was found in
front of the tomb of Patrobius, a freedman of Nero who had
been sentenced by Galba. It was then laid with the ashes of
the body, which had already been cremated.

Such was the fate of Servius Galba. In the course of
seventy-three years he had lived a successful life spanning
the reigns of five emperors — reigns which proved luckier
for him than his own. He came of a family that could boast
ancient nobility and great wealth. His own personality was
something of a compromise: he had good qualities and in
equal measure bad. Having won a reputation, he neither
despised nor exploited it. He harboured no designs upon
other people's property, was thrifty with his own, and where
the state was involved showed himself a positive miser. A
tolerant attitude towards courtiers and officials attracted
no censure when they happened to be honest; but his lack of
perception if they were not was quite inexcusable. However,
distinguished birth and the alarms of the time disguised his
lack of enterprise and caused it to be described as wisdom.
In the prime of life he attained military distinction in the
Rhineland; as proconsul, he administered Africa with
moderation, and his control of Nearer Spain in his latter
years showed a similar sense of fair-play. Indeed, so long
as he was a subject, he seemed too great a man to be one,
and by common consent possessed the makings of a ruler — had
he never ruled.

50. In Rome, public opinion was nervous. Men were not merely
aghast at the grisly crimes which had just been committed;
they also feared Otho's character, which they knew from the
past. An additional source of anxiety was the fresh news
about Vitellius. This had been hushed up before Galba's
assassination, so that the mutiny was thought to be confined
to the army of Upper Germany. Here then were the two most
despicable men in the whole world by reason of their
unclean, idle and pleasure-loving lives, apparently
appointed by fate for the task of destroying the empire. It
was the realization of this that now evoked unconcealed
regret not only from the senate and knights, who had some
stake and interest in the country, but from the man in the
street as well. Conversation no longer centred on recent
episodes which illustrated the brutality of peace. Minds
went back to the civil wars, and they spoke of the many
times Rome had been captured by its own armies, of the
devastation of Italy, of the sack of provinces, of
Pharsalia, Philippi and famous names associated with
national disasters. The whole world, they reflected, had
been practically turned upside down when the duel for power
involved honourable rivals. But the empire had survived the
victory of Julius Caesar and that of Augustus. The republic
would have done the same under Pompey and Brutus. But were
they now to visit the temples and pray for Otho? Or rather
for Vitellius? Intercession for either would be equally
impious, and vows equally blasphemous. In any struggle
between the pair, the only certainty was that the winner
would turn out the worse. Some observers pointed to the
possibility of intervention by Vespasian and the forces of
the east, and though Vespasian was better than either Otho
or Vitellius, yet they were terrified of fresh hostilities
and fresh disasters. There were in fact conflicting stories
about Vespasian, and he alone — unlike all the emperors
before him changed for the better.